Transport

Uber bringing smart hire cars to Canberra

Australian Business Traveller reports that the controversial hire car /taxi service to the nerds Uber (wikipedia page for context)is planning an Australian expansion that includes Canberra:

The Uber car hire service could be available in Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and other Australian cities this year.

“In 2014 we plan to bring Uber to many more Australian cities” the company spruiks in its latest marketing campaign.

“We’d like your help to spread the word to your friends all around Australia” Uber says. “We will prioritise launching cities with the most pre-registered users.”

Already running in Sydney and Melbourne, plus several major cities in the USA, Europe and Asia, Uber essentially lets you use a smartphone app to hire any nearby and available private car at near-taxi prices.

We gather that in many techy cities in the US they’ve become a real alternative to car ownership.

You could probably make a decent haul if you use Uber to find a select group of faithful customers at first, then provide your services off of Uber’s records thereafter to avoid their large overhead fees.

But it should be, especially in rural areas where there aren’t any taxis whatsoever, and people need to contact each other.

Insurance companies and cabbies are obviously the losers with Uber, and the ATO wants to know where all the money is flowing from these new fangled internet ventures. I take it NSW will have to fight AirBNB for exactly the same reason.

Anyway, it won’t stop me from getting lifts from my mates, making copies of music, or finding short-term non-commercial accommodation in the meanwhile. And ride-sharing in the ACT is still legal, last time I checked.

So, you join Uber and people contact you and you drive them to their destination and they give you money? Is that legal?

You should see it in action in Sydney and Melbourne, at the airports and the cba, especially sporting events it is booming. It has really taken the taxi companies by surprise. I can’t see taxis existing much into the future.

You could probably make a decent haul if you use Uber to find a select group of faithful customers at first, then provide your services off of Uber’s records thereafter to avoid their large overhead fees.

Only in the scenario where you are close by to pickup and lucky enough for a return trip passenger. Anytime you have a bit of a drive to pickup and no one on a return trip then it’s not worth it.

So, you join Uber and people contact you and you drive them to their destination and they give you money? Is that legal?

You should see it in action in Sydney and Melbourne, at the airports and the cba, especially sporting events it is booming. It has really taken the taxi companies by surprise. I can’t see taxis existing much into the future.

I was in Melbourne last week via the XPT service (which is totally clapped out) and after alighting at Southern Cross I went out to the taxi rank looking for Uber but he was nowhere to be seen.
I ended up with Mohammed who got me safely to where I wanted to go in a spotlessly clean cab.
Can’t see why we need this trendy new Uber thing – it’s a bit like the light rail, sexy but unnecessary.